Manna from Heaven? Not quite...

This is the second part of a note my principal, Michy, sent to the English teachers last week:

"On a different note, you'll soon be amused (or perhaps, jittery, elated, annoyed, or just plain curious!) to discover that very soon botanas [snacks] will be dropping from the sky to fill the streets (and nooks and crannies) of Tuxtla! They are called nucu, and they are fat and clumsy flying ant that are due to appear any day now (they appear shortly after the tiny. dainty, long-winged insects take to the sky...and I saw a couple in my bathroom already!) The dopey nucu are attracted to the light, so the Tuxlecos [people from Tuxtla] have learned that they can capture these yummy treats by setting up tubs of water under strategically placed lightbulbs. After the initial luminous attraction, the nucu plunge to their watery death, and the Tuxtlecos gather them, fry them up in lime and salt, and dig in for a crunchy, tangy, and somewhat pungent once-a-year feast! I wanted to let you know for two reasons: one, you may bravely wish to try out this cultural delicacy yourself; and two, your students will in all likelihood be a little distracted and excited on the day the nucu arrive."

One: I tried grasshoppers, that was enough, thank you.
Two: It's June. My kids are already distracted and excited! :)

At our Wednesday morning meeting, my counterpart (the Spanish first grade teacher) Estela (who I called Estrella, or Star, for months by accident without being corrected) called them "caviar Chiapaneco", Chiapan caviar, because people will charge 10 pesos for a small container.
They have definitely distracted my kids, who have brought tupperware to school to try to catch them, and who ask (and are denied) permission to get out of morning line-up to go chase one that they saw on the ground. "Yes, I'm sure the Principal and Coordinator would love it if I let you run off and catch bugs while she's talking," I feel like saying, but instead opt for, "Not right now."
Anyhow, I could have a picture of one of my cutie pie students and his nucu collecting efforts, but I brought my camera without batteries!! Que tonta soy.